Implications of Strategic Orientation on Sustainable Performance and Organizational Innovation: A Case of Manufacturing SMEs in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

The ability of manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to adopt sustainability is predicated on several criteria, including purchasing and developing specialized resources. SMEs in emerging economies have great potential, and in terms of intensifying business performance, it is important to focus on strategic orientation. The influence of four strategic orientations on firm performance is examined in this study. The role of learning, entrepreneurial, technological, and environmental orientations within proactive strategic orientations in the manufacturing sector have been investigated. This study uses a survey questionnaire to collect data from four hundred and sixty-five sub-Saharan African manufacturing SMEs. The proactive strategic orientations were advantageous for organizational innovation (OI) and sustainable performance (SP); OI improves SP, and SP catalyzes OI, based on the Pearson correlation coefficient. This research provides information that may be utilized to advance conceptual and practical debates on manufacturing SMEs to be innovative and improve their sustainability performance to contribute to society, the environment, and the economy.